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This album reminded me of Dance Gavin Dance (Johnny Craig), Shawn Lane and Mario 64 all together and i love it. Also The Azdinist // Den of Dawns is the first song ever with that reggaeton beat that i like. Thank you for the songs, lads.
I discovered this band a month ago, and after listening to all the albums at least 10 times each, I can say that this one is my favorite, and without a doubt you guys have become one of my favorite bands, YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!
This album is an absolute achievement, especially from an unsigned band. It's just completely overflowing with creativity the entire way through. The story is phenomenal. I haven't heard an album so perfectly match the mood and songwriting to the events of the story since Slice the Cake's Odyssey to the West. You guys should be extremely proud of yourselves.
It took me so long to form an opinion on this record. It started lukewarm but just kept growing on me. In a time where very little prog or metal bands interest me for a long time, a deep album like this is so welcome. Amazing job guys, what an achievement!
Really grateful you gave it the time you did! We spent a lot of love making this thing, but we're also totally aware of how intense the first impression might be haha! Thanks for sticking with it, means a lot to us!
@@seba.4926 Eventually! We have the entire album scored in notation, so eventually it'd be the case of getting it into tab form with all the bits we've changed, and the solos etc!
I'm a Twilight Force fan, I searched for a song of yours just to see Galen and Alex, I came looking for copper and found gold, I loved you all! This was the first song I heard from you guys, but I can't stop listening to album after album!!
I haven't stopped thinking about this album since it came out, and I've listened to it at least once every three or four days. I have a couple story interpretations that I just had to write down. Firstly, I believe Fym is particularly susceptible to enchantment magic. I feel like the first meeting with the Mistress is her first battle against enchantment. The Mistress' azdin is subtle; she used Fym's desires and loneliness against her, and since deep down Fym wanted to believe in her words and desired not to be alone, this allowed the Mistress' enchantment to take hold on her. It was a very sudden switch from reluctance to "yeah i'll climb that mountain". The second brush with manipulation would be in Beyond the Bloom, and again, she was already conflicted about destroying the Palun's domain. The spores of the flowers affected her mind, reinforcing the fact that she would "much rather preserve this". The enchantment grew in strength and she eventually hacked off Lavender's wing, which fractured the enchantment as she suddenly realized what she had done. Siphoning the Palun completely breaks the enchantment, but its magic is still tainted and trying to affect her, adding more than a metaphorical "weight" to the blade. After hardening her heart over the next century of cleansing, she finally comes to the kingdom of ice and light. The "tumultuous sound in (her) head" I believe is an attempt at enchantment by force, but Fym by this point is too powerful. Although she's spent a hundred years destroying, I don't think she ever wanted to do it, so when she focuses in and starts to understand the spectres she goes out of her way looking for a way to spare them. She succeeds, and after having a taste of agency for the first time in her life, she goes back to the Den of Dawns to help fix Fox Lavender. The tragedy is that finally having a taste of freedom and autonomy, she immediately has her agency stripped in the perfectly named "Agentic State". She reluctantly but willingly becomes the King of Light, but when she tries to show mercy again Morl Majgyn actually dominates her. The Apprentice God's azdin is fittingly much more powerful than the Palun's denizens, and much more direct and brutal than the Mistress'. The cycle of abuse continues in Doppelganger. Fym creates a new life, just like a mother would, but she immediately dominates the poor thing. The control is much more complete than any enchantment that had been enacted on her, allowing the doppel zero autonomy, using her as an extension of her own mind. This story culminates in Moonrise, where the creature, born of selfish desires and abused her entire life, seemingly forgives Fym by not betraying her to Majgyn. The second observation is much simpler: The Kingdom of Ice and Light still stands. Although Fym states in Trench of Nalu "I feel it snap inside of me, my enchantments and my double all relinquished from me", she's an unreliable narrator here. We know the double remains, and Fox Lavender is still able to fly without wings thanks to Fym's magic. It seems that any of her selfless uses of azdin, like healing and creating new life, remains after her draining, and it's only the selfish spells like her protections and the mind domination has faded. That's a lot of words, but I think this may be my favorite record of all time. I've never engaged with an album like this, the narrative throughline is just so strong and keeps revealing more of itself on repeated listening. I still get shivers even thinking about the final siphon, the way the music and the vocals all intensify until it finally releases. It's the most cathartic moment I've ever heard in music.
Firstly, we just want to say a big thank you for how much time and engagement you've given the album. It's almost disarming to get a comment where someone's this versed and immersed in the story, it means the absolute world to us that you've done so. In regards to your interpretations - you're super in tune with what Fym's introverted and often naïve character is all about. Really happy to hear that her vulnerability to beguilement and illusion is coming across the way it is; it was so important to us to demonstrate that the decisions Fym makes in light of her own suffering are often quite controlling or ruthless in their own right. As for the doppelganger's liberation - we'd hate to spoil that for you now, but we can assure you that this story does continue, and there is an explanation! Again, thank you so much for your comment, we love what we do, and this has made our day! 🐉
listening to this for the first time after listening to Fym countless times. anytime a familiar melody or lyric comes up, its a bit of a jumpscare, but in a really good way! thoroughly enjoying :) please keep making music, y'all are awesome
I really like Brine, it's how I discovered you guys. It still gets fairly regular listens. But wow is Fym on a completely different level. The more I listen to more I'm blown away by the songwriting and story. I don't really have much to say but this deserves to absolutely explode within the prog rock/ metal community, it's such an incredible album. Hope you guys make it across the pond at some point, I know it's not easy but hopefully one day :).
I really Love this Album! I don't have words to describe this masterpiece. I've been listening to it and recommeding it your work to other People. I hope you guys continue making music. I Will wait for more ❤❤❤❤. One more time, congratulations!
I wish there were more sad and minor themes going on in the songs, for example something like Wilt, which imo is the best from the album. Good release tho, keep it up!
Ah cheers for listening to the record - really glad you liked Wilt in particular. That theme is one of our favourites too, definitely saved for the most tragic part of the story haha!
this has got to be one of, if not the best album I've ever listened to! it easily toppled every single Album that was above it in my ranking from their thrones, and your band in general has done the same this album, and your other tracks too, have emotionally impacted make like no music has in a while, there were many moments when I thought "the musical mastery of this is just immaculate" and was blown away the story was an absolute highlight as well, I have been reading the lyrics of this album, and the other albums too, trying to figure stuff out because it's really interesting! As a passionate world builder, this will definitely have an impact on my very own creative processes, and I will give a very good thought to buying the book as well PS: a few songs of this album I especially liked The Azdinist// den of Dawns was such a powerful first entry, it just flows and communicates what it wants very well fym also was amazing, the chord progressions and general metrum were simply a joy to listen to Lavender fox was definitely an absolute highlight of the album, because although fyms decision can be understood, it nonetheless left one of her best friends in ruin. I think that although the act of freeing her friend was something that could have been understood, leaving the fox alone after what she had done definitely made her decisions questionable. She did eventually free it from its state, and in that way, did redeem herself, so it had a good ending. The experimental side of it most certainly paid out threefold agentic state communicated the more or less, moral collapse of fyms ideals very well, the question of whether the ends justify the means. It also made Morl-Majgyn easily the most interesting character, I'd love to know what the title of "apprentice god" really means and why he's so hellbent on waging war. This most likely was one of the most intriguing tracks, storywise for me, because there is so much left for the mind to interpret and think about. Another thought is, that the more choirlike elements of it really bring out the fledgling divinity of Morl Majgyn, they speak of his authority. doppelgänger probably had one of the best musical structures in the entire album, everything from the lyrics to the music works together perfectly to tell of the internal conflict of fym and her doppel, the question of who is more important, if her doppel can really be used as a scapegoat and diversion trench of nalu was simply amazing aswell, the time put into it completely paid out and last but definitely not least, Moonrise was a perfect endnote to the album, the bittersweet, melancholic feeling of it fits perfectly, for although fym did technically accomplish what she set out to do, she has threatened what she has fought for nonetheless by exposing the den of dawn's location to morl Majgyn sorry for the long comment, there are a LOT more small bits about general design and interpretation that I could talk about, but its already long enough, I just had to share some of my thoughts on it and I hope that it will be continued some day
Thanks so much for this comment! We're pretty speechless at just how much you've already taken in from the record - it's so so cool knowing that you really put in the time to understand the storyline! Honestly means the world to us that you'd rank this album that highly - it's been our absolute passion for the last few years, so the fact that it's finally done and out in the world is such a surreal experience. Really glad you enjoyed Agentic State the way that you did, Majgyn is definitely a character we've played pretty close to our chest for now, so there's still a fair amount of mystery surrounding him that we'll probably talk more about in another release/book! Anyways, the biggest thank you from us for writing this long comment and letting us know how much the record means to you - that's made our day!
I only just came across this album last night and it immediately became one of my all time favourites. I'm already on my 6th listen eheh- As someone who's huge on musical theatre and has played several pits myself there is just so much to love about this. I had never considered mixing prog and musical theatre before but this makes it sound like they were meant for each other. The story itself is fantasticly vivid too; I would kill to see a stage adaptation In addition to everything else, as a trans woman there's a whole other layer to sink my teeth into with the lyrics, I absolutely love it
If you want more musical theater and prog, i highly recommend Native Construct’s only album, Quiet World! It’s a lot heavier than this album, but it has equal theatricality to match. The story is sadly not as vivid as Fym is, but nothing out there really is!
Ah wow thanks so much for spinning it so many times in quick succession! So happy you hear all the musical theatre vibes throughout too, there's definitely a lot of inspiration from all over in terms of the story telling influences, it would be ridiculously cool to work on a full stage adaption hahaha! Perhaps one day! Thanks so much for listening to and relating to what we do - it means the world to us!
Just got done listening to the album for a sixth time after my first listen 3 days ago.....I gotta say I have not been emotionally impacted by an album like this in a long time. You guys created an amazing world and filled it with wonderful sights, sounds and characters. Fym is a really dynamic character, and you were able to bring her completely to life in way that I think even most films cannot do. Both Fym and the Lavender Fox I think have a lot more potential in this universe, I am greatly looking forward to any work your group does. Whether it be in further albums or if you add more to the story of your world through more literature, I am definitely here for it. And I will be doing everything I can to spread word about your music. Congrats on this masterpiece!
Ah what an amazing comment! Thank you so much! We really did spent a lot of time getting into the heart of what this story means to us, and how we wanted the characters to feel and come across, so it's a huge relief that they're coming across that way! We're definitely gonna continue to add to the story, and the book which is already out will definitely end up with a sequel, so hopefully there will be more for you to dig into eventually! Thanks again for such a nice comment, it genuinely means so so much to us!
@azure2176 update: it was about 4 weeks of almost exclusively listening to this album. You all did something extremely remarkable with both storytelling and musical composition. The end of Trench of Nalu with "Don't save me now, I'm begging you, please. You fool, just take the blade. Abandon me" gives me chills every time.
The obvious motifs/reprises are incredible, but the hidden ones are SO REWARDING to find, sometimes you put them so subtle that i just find after a hundred listens haha, i'm having a good time trying to catch everything, so funny. That part in 1:06:07 Trench of Nalu is one of those right? The melody is extremely similar to "Ameotoko, lost my soul, Ameotoko, has no home" to be just a coincidence. Also, the whole themes from the Cult of Nalu and Lu itself are related to the water/sea. Some lore stuff are still hard to interpret and link, especially the songs from Wish For Spring. You're all nerds and the nerd in me is hunger for more, I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING 😂😂😂 And i loved the way you made the outro of The Portent to smoothly transitions into Redtail, so i can just put the song after, works so well as a flashback then transitions back to Trench of Nalu
Thanks so much for this comment Clokkemaker! We've been into those kind of callbacks, themes, and references for as long as we can remember, so having a whole album's worth of canvas to decorate with those kinds of ideas has been a lot of fun, and very rewarding for us too! It means so much to us that the characters and stories we've created have been resonating enough with you to want to piece it all together - glad you can trace references back all the way to Wish For Spring! Azure has always had this strong relationship with the sea, and water, in the lyrics and stories - happy to hear that you're enjoying the way it comes together. Lu's full name, Lusini, in Reian more or less means 'to be at sea'!
I've only listened to the first 2 songs at the moment of typing this, but man this has some sort of flavor all its own. It's a mix of old and new, really catchy and melodic, like Rush and Angra had a baby.
That's a huge compliment - those are some legendary bands, and we definitely love that stuff! Thanks so much for taking the time to check out the record!
I'm on part 3 of Lu now, and spent some time listening to the interview about musical storytelling the other day, so I believe I've gained a new understanding for this album and a much greater appreciation. For me, it is exactly that, musical storytelling, at its finest. It's more than just a song, and more than just an album. Need to deep dive into the lyrics. Ive never listened (like this) to an album like this before. Incredible!
Ah man, seriously appreciate you reading the book and checking out those interviews, especially to give the record more context! Thanks so much! This is definitely the hardest we've gone in the storytelling direction so we're stoked to hear it's something you're enjoying!
@azure2176 Much of the focus is on Ameotoko, but clearly there are many other songs on OBAAB that are either directly involved or at the least relatable, Jester for one. It certainly made me rethink 'outrun god' whether it's related or not. I know that song took time to grow on me, but I've a new appreciation for it and others, including Wish for Spring :).
This is really fun so far, nice combo of styles. Even some calypso vibes at times!! Freekin cooooool!! This tickles my Owen Pallett receptors for some reason.
Woah, not had an Owen Pallett mention here before so that's awesome! Really stoked you're digging the sound of the different influences, we had a lot of fun finding the sounds and vibes we wanted for this story!
WOAH. I did not expect to find a favorite new band today. I love instrumental guitar like Stephen Taranto, prog like Thank You Scientist, The Dear Hunter, Native Construct, Caligula's Horse, and post-hardcore like Closure in Moscow and Mandroid Echostar, and this seems to combine all that sound. Awesome, awesome, awesome stuff.
Ah really appreciate the comparisons! All those bands rock, so it's a big compliment - thanks so much for checking out the record and giving it your time!
Once we make sure everyone's got their merch and CDs (we had an issue with the CD manufacturer so everything took ages and we're just getting around to posting everything out this week) maybe we'll look into a vinyl run. Would absolutely love to get this record out on vinyl we've just never done that before and we'd have to work out how to properly do that and what kind of demand there'd be for it. Will look into it though!
@@azure2176 That'd be awesome. This album is a prog classic, i'm tellin' ya. Would love to have it in my collection. I bought the album either way! Good work to everyone involved.
